Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The long-simmering dispute between the International Longshore andWarehouse Union (ILWU) and the international consortium EGT Developmenttranspiring in Longview, Washington looks to be coming to a head.

In a January 3 letter addressed to his members, ILWU InternationalPresident Robert McEllrath disclosed that EGT will soon attempt tocommence operations at its new $200 million grain terminal located at thePort of Longview. As McEllrath wrote, "We believe that at some point thismonth a vessel will call at the EGT facility in Longview,Washington…Prepare to take action when the EGT vessel arrives."

The Struggle and Its Stakes

At the heart of the Longview dispute has been EGT's refusal to hirelongshoremen from ILWU Local 21 to work its grain terminal at the Port ofLongview. The publicly owned port—as with all West Coast public portdocks—has been worked exclusively by the ILWU for decades.

Dismissing this hard-won jurisdiction, EGT chose to break off negotiationswith the ILWU last year and contract with a third party employing laborfrom International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 701. TheILWU argues that this is in direct violation of EGT's lease agreement withthe Port of Longview, which explicitly stipulates all port work is toindeed be done by the ILWU.

For its part, IUOE Local 701 has been widely condemned within theNorthwest labor community, with many accusing the local of conspiring withEGT to break the ILWU. Both the Washington and Oregon state AFL-CIObodies, along with numerous other unions, have already passed resolutionscondemning Local 701. The July resolution passed by the Oregon AFL-CIOdescribed 701's actions at the EGT terminal as "scab labor."

The national AFL-CIO, on the other hand, has remained conspicuously mutedon the dispute. No mention of the ILWU's struggle in Longview can befound on the federation's website or blog. In fact, AFL-CIO PresidentRichard Trumka has referred to the entire matter as a mere "jurisdictionaldispute."

Yet despite the AFL's seeming indifference, the outcome of the strugglecouldn't have greater stakes. As Kyle Mackey, Secretary/Treasurer of theCowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council (the umbrella labor body for theLongview area), argues, "If EGT succeeds, they will have essentiallybroken the ILWU." As he explains:

First, they will set a precedent that work on public port docks is nolonger automatically longshore jurisdiction. Then within less than ayear, when the northwest grain handlers' agreement is set to benegotiated, all the other grain elevators will seek to either gonon-ILWU or to match the eroded standard EGT creates. Shortlythereafter, in 2014, the ILWU will negotiate its master contract withthe Pacific Maritime Association. If they lose, you can bet the PMAwill take notice and hit hard.

In the midst of a nationwide attack on organized labor and the right tocollectively bargain, the defeat of the powerful ILWU would also be sureto have consequences reaching far beyond the docks.

The Call for Solidarity

Responding to the intensifying situation, the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum CentralLabor Council on January 2 passed a resolution calling for solidarityaction to stop the EGT vessel from being loaded. The resolution read inpart:

Be it Resolved: That this Council call out to friends of labor and the"99 percent" everywhere to come to the aid of ILWU Local 21, and tosupport them in any way possible in their fight against multinationalconglomerate EGT. And,

Be it further Resolved: That this Council request that anyone willingto participate in a community and labor protest in Longview,Washington, of the first EGT grain ship do so when called upon by thisbody.

Accordingly, planning for a regional solidarity caravan to shuttle ILWUrank-and-file and other supporters to Longview on word of the EGT vessel'sarrival is already underway. With the support of the San Francisco LaborCouncil, ILWU Local 10, for one, has already pledged funds for a bus toferry rank-and-file picketers up to Longview once given the word.

The Northwest Occupy movement, meanwhile, has also begun to mobilize. OnDecember 19, Occupy Longview issued a call for Occupy activists toconverge on the port to blockade the loading of any vessel at EGT'sterminal. As Occupy Longview stated, "We are calling out to all occupies,from New York City down to Florida, all the way through to the West Coast,to join us in solidarity…We ask that tens of thousands travel to Longviewto join us and make this action the central action for January 2012."

Occupy and the ILWU

The inclusion and participation of outside activists in the ILWU'sLongview struggle—such as those from the Occupy movement—has not beenwithout its share of controversy. As was widely publicized, the ILWUleadership refrained from embracing the West Coast Port Shutdown inDecember, which the Occupy movement had called in part to show solidaritywith the ILWU in the struggle against EGT. In fact, the Occupy-led portshutdown led a few unionist and other observers to question the merits andrational behind an action conducted without much in the way of ILWU inputand participation.

Occupy activist, though, maintained that they did indeed haverank-and-file support for the action. Moreover, they argued that theantagonistic statements coming from the ILWU leadership regarding the portshutdown were merely for legal cover. (Local 21, for instance, alreadyfaces upwards of $300,000 in fines due to unfair labor practice chargesaccrued from its ongoing struggle.)

Regardless, the matter of independent action conducted in solidarity with,or in the name of, the ILWU remains an issue. As President McEllrathcautioned in his January 3 letter, "Any showing of support for Local 21 atthe time that a vessel calls at the EGT facility must be measured toensure that the West Coast ports have sufficient manpower so as not toimpact cargo movement for PMA member companies. A call for a protest ofEGT is not a call for a shutdown of West Coast ports and must not resultin one."

Facing a Stacked Deck

The dictate to limit any ILWU action to EGT in Longview stems from thesevere restrictions American labor law places on unions. As McEllrathnotes in his letter to members, "Locals need to be aware of the narrowpath that we must cut through a federal labor law (the Taft-Hartley Act)that criminalizes worker solidarity, outlaws labor's most effective tools,and protects commerce while severely restricting unions."

Of course in addition to repressive labor laws, a key challenge facing anyattempt to effectively blockade EGT's terminal from beginning operationswill be the expected heavy-handed police presence. To date, at least 75out of the 200 Local 21 members have already faced arrest, citation,fines, or both. (Little surprise, then, to learn that EGT has madecontributions to local police and fire bureaus.)

But as for what to expect once EGT seeks to load a grain barge later thismonth, McEllrath warns, "We have been told that this vessel will beescorted by armed United States Coast Guard, including the use of smallvessels and helicopters, from the mouth of the Columbia River to the EGTfacility and that the facility itself will be protected by a fullcomplement of local law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions."

But even facing such a stacked deck—with the courts, police, and, needlessto say, the media conspiring against them—make no mistake: the ILWU hasnever been a union to back away from a struggle. As ILWU Local 21President Dan Coffman has stated, "The ILWU cannot lose this fight; we arein it to it to win it."

And so it is that as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Wisconsinuprising, the long sleeping giant that is American labor stirs once more.